The NCAA has asked a federal judge to revisit its motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by three former Penn swimmers over 2022 College graduate Lia Thomas’ participation at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
The case was stayed in July 2025 pending a decision in Gaines v. NCAA, a similar suit challenging the organization’s former eligibility policies for transgender athletes. When a judge dismissed those allegations last week, the NCAA moved to lift the stay and grant its pending motion to dismiss the suit.
Penn asked the court to drop the case late April, writing that the plaintiffs “cannot establish causation against Penn” and that they “failed to plead that they suffered a concrete injury related to their claims.” The University’s request also remains pending while the case is stayed.
In the Sept. 29 decision in Gaines v. NCAA, United States District Judge Tiffany Johnson ruled that Title IX did not apply to the NCAA because it did not receive federal funding. That logic should apply again, according to the NCAA.
The organization wrote on Oct. 2 that Johnson “rejected an argument Plaintiffs also make in this case: that the NCAA is an ‘indirect’ recipient of federal funding by virtue of its ‘partnership’ with the Department of Defense.”
A spokesperson for the NCAA wrote in a statement that the organization “is proud to continually invest in and expand women’s sports.”
The lawsuit was originally filed in February 2025 by 2022 College graduate Grace Estabrook, 2024 College graduate Margot Kaczorowski, and 2024 College graduate Ellen Holmquist — all of whom competed with Thomas during the 2021-22 swimming season.
It alleged that four defendants — Penn, Harvard University, the Ivy League, and the NCAA — violated Title IX regulations by allowing a “trans-identifying male swimmer” to compete in the 2022 Ivy League Championships.
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A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson.
Shortly after the suit was filed, 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
The order cited Title IX, stating that any educational institution receiving federal funds “cannot deny women an equal opportunity to participate in sports.”
While the NCAA allowed transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports at the time of filing, the organization changed its policy following Trump’s executive order. Currently, students assigned male at birth may practice with women’s teams but they are not permitted to compete.
The NCAA is in full compliance with the Trump “administration’s executive order on women’s sports,” the NCAA spokesperson wrote.
In July 2025, Penn reached a resolution with the Department of Education to settle an investigation into the same matter.
Since the agreement, the University has complied with the Education Department’s demands, removing Thomas’ individual records, issuing a public statement noting their adoption of “biology-based definitions” of sex, and sending ”letter[s] of apology to each impacted female swimmer.”
The Education Department formally rescinded Biden-era Title IX rules on Sept. 28, repealing discrimination protections to students based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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Senior reporter Lavanya Mani covers legal affairs and can be reached at mani@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies comparative literature. Follow her on X @LavanyaMani_.
